The need has been identified for a cheap, reliable and convenient device for articles such as bottles whereby the article can be suspended for use. One specific example of such a requirement has been found with glass bottles which are used for containing medical intravenous injection fluids. Such bottles have at one end an opening which after filling is sealed before the whole product is autoclaved so as to be sterile. The bottle has a curved corner extending from its bottom to the side wall, a bail band indent closely spaced from the bottom of the bottle being provided for receiving a suspension band with a shoulder between the bail band indent and the bottom of the bottle acting to retain the band position. When in use the bottle can be suspended in an inverted mode by the suspension band to provide drip feed of the contents to a patient.
Hitherto, such intravenous solution bottles have been suspended by a metal suspension unit having a wire hoop pivotally connected to a metal band at opposite sides of the bottle. The metal band is formed from plated strip which is manually fitted onto the bail band indent of the bottle by threading one end of the strip through an aperture in the opposite end of the band and bending the strip back on itself. Not only have such bands been expensive to fit in terms of labour component but furthermore particularly since unskilled labour is used there is a significant risk of the band being inadequately tight, and which could cause the band to slip when in use and the glass bottle could be dropped with serious consequences.
There is therefore a need for an economic and effective replacement for the known metal bands and in one aspect of the invention there is proposed such a replacement.